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Saturday, September 29, 2012

Josef Albers-Color Theory's Giant

Josef Albers

"The Man" When It Comes To Color

Red and Brilliant Yellow

Josef Albers is a name many dedicated artists may know. For
more than twenty-seven years, Albers created thousands of paintings based on
images of layered squares of pure color. On the backs of these paintings, he even thoughtfully listed the hues used. He entitled this massive study “Homage To A
Square”.

These
paintings and his study of color revolutionized how people understood color relationships and how
teachers taught color theory. Instrumental in this was his 1963 published work Interaction To Color.

Joseph Albers didn't start his color exploration until the well ripe age of 61. By then, he was already a
well-respected artist. Starting in the
Bauhaus, he moved to the United States when the Nazis closed the school. While in the U.S., he was head of the art
department of Black Mountain College near Asheville, North Caroline and later head of
Yale’s Art Department. If you want to read more about Josef Albers, The Art Story has a very nice synopsis of his life and work.

He was
married to Anni Albers, a well-respected weaver in her own right. Anni Albers will be featured shortly on the
Journal.

Just A Few More Squares

Between Two Scarlets, 1964

Study for Beaming, 1963

From The Soil, 1962

Portrait of Josef Albers

There is also a wonderful children's book about his life and work: An eye for Color by Natasha Wing. It is available on Amazon.